But you CAN toot your own horn, as long as you don't drown out useful content your readers are looking for. This careful balance is key to increasing your response rates and increasing business.

Here are my top 10 tips on how to accomplish this:

1) Make sure your MAIN ARTICLE always provides information that your readers will find valuable.

By having a main article as foundation of your issue, readers will feel they got what they came for - helpful information. Try a "how-to" article, a list of resources, a list of top 10 tips, a review of a trend in industry - that sort of thing.

2) Begin each issue with an "EDITOR'S NOTE" or "PUBLISHER'S NOTE."

I have found this is perfect place to let readers know about what's happening with me and my business, give them a taste of my personality, and announce any upcoming events or workshops. Because this is a personal message from you to them, and because it's NOT your main content, you have more leeway in being direct and self-promotional.

3) In your article, throw in LINKS to related articles you've written or been featured in, when appropriate.

Your readers will appreciate additional information and resources, and it's one more chance for you to demonstrate your expertise and credibility.

4) Make sure your links are "clickable."

To ensure your links come through as hyperlinks on your reader's end, make sure you put "http://" prefix before them. And to make any e-mail addresses clickable, insert prefix "mailto:" before them, with no space in between.

5) Directly after your article, give a quick PROMO BLURB, mentioning your services, books, reports, or workshops.

KH: How important has publishing an ezine been to your business?

RK: I think that it's important to attract and maintain customers in every way that you can. I always think of "Rule of 7." It takes about 7 impressions before a customer will buy. I don't know where this rule came from, but it sure seems to be true.

The more ways that you can reach people, more likely you are to sell to them. Having an ezine is just one way to advertise and let people know that your products or services exist. It is also one of most inexpensive ways to reach customers and potential customers.

KH: How long have you been running an ezine and how many subscribers do you have?

RK: I ran a marketing ezine for my own business for 4 years. For last six months, I've been editor of a health ezine called "NutriCounter Update." The health ezine now has over 6,000 subscribers.

KH: Can you tell me more about "NutriCounter?" What does it do? Who does it benefit?

RK: The NutriCounter is a nutritional calculator that helps people keep track of their nutritional intake. People can use it for any type of diet including diets for weight loss, weight gain, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and heart disease.

Good health is always contingent on a healthy diet and NutriCounter can help people monitor their diet and let them know when they've exceeded or met their individual nutritional goals for day.

KH: Do you write and use your own articles to promote your ezine? How valuable has writing articles been in promoting your ezine?

RK: Yes, we write one original article each month for our monthly publication. It's valuable to get and keep subscribers ... but it's also an excellent way to spread our URL around.